The Alcyonides (, ''Alkyonides'') were, in Greek mythology, the seven daughters of the giant

Alcyoneus In Greek mythology, Alcyoneus or Alkyoneus (; Ancient Greek: Ἀλκυονεύς ''Alkuoneus'') was a traditional opponent of the hero Heracles. He was usually considered to be one of the Gigantes (Giants (Greek mythology), Giants), the offspring ...

Names

These sisters were identified individually as, Alkippe, Anthe, Asteria, Drimo, Methone, Pallene and Phthonia ( Phosthonia or Chthonia).

Mythology

When their father Alcyoneus was slain by Heracles, the Alcyonides threw themselves into the sea from Kanastraion, which is the peak of Pellene. They were transformed into halcyons ( kingfishers) by Amphitrite.

Legacy

Islands

The Alkyonides are also small rocky islands in the

Corinthian Gulf The Gulf of Corinth or the Corinthian Gulf ( el, Κορινθιακός Kόλπος, ''Korinthiakόs Kόlpos'', ) is a deep inlet of the Ionian Sea, separating the Peloponnese from western mainland Greece. It is bounded in the east by the Isth ...

very close to the coast of Attica,

Peloponnese The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic regions of Greece, geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmu ...

and Central Greece, taking their name from the mythological figures. They reported a 2001 census population of nine inhabitants and are administratively part of the municipality of

Loutraki-Perachora Loutraki-Perachora (Greek: Λουτράκι-Περαχώρα) is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local governmental reform it is part of the municipality Loutraki-Perachora-Agioi Theodoroi, of which it is a m ...

in Corinthia.

Climate

The term ''Alkyonides'' also refers to a meteorological phenomenon of the central Greek climate. Nearly every year in the period after Christmas until the middle of January there is a non-interrupted period of days with clear blue skies and warm temperatures, which at least in the Athens region can reach more than 20°C over the day.

Astronomy

The

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine and a half times that of Earth. It has only one-eighth the average density of Earth; h ...

ian moons Methone, Anthe and Pallene are named after three of the Alkyonides.International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN) - Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature
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Notes

Reference

Suida The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; grc-x-medieval, Σοῦδα, Soûda; la, Suidae Lexicon) is a large 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas (Σούδας) or Souidas ...

, ''Suda Encyclopedia'' translated by Ross Scaife, David Whitehead, William Hutton, Catharine Roth, Jennifer Benedict, Gregory Hays, Malcolm Heath Sean M. Redmond, Nicholas Fincher, Patrick Rourke, Elizabeth Vandiver, Raphael Finkel, Frederick Williams, Carl Widstrand, Robert Dyer, Joseph L. Rife, Oliver Phillips and many others
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
Women in Greek mythology {{Greek-myth-stub Metamorphoses into birds in Greek mythology Characters in Greek mythology